It's been awhile since I've been completely enthralled by a book, but Sadie pulled me right in.
It's not at all what I expected it to be. I knew it was going to be a darker book based on the premise alone, but what I got was so much more than that.
Sadie is 19 years old but she's basically raised herself and Mattie, her 13 year old sister. But when Mattie runs away and turns up dead, Sadie wants revenge. She knows who did it and she plans on killing him. But that means she has to leave behind May Beth, her surrogate grandmother. When May Beth realized that Sadie is gone, she calls the producer of a true crime podcast to maybe get an investigative reporter who is more helpful than their local police department. Because let's be real...
I can't take another dead girl.
The podcast aspect of this novel is actually brilliant for a number of reasons.
1) We get everyone's viewpoint. Sure most of the story is told through reported West McCray and May Beth; but every person Sadie comes in contact with gets their own little voice.
2) The podcast chapters are much lighter than Sadie's chapters. They're short but informative and packed full of emotions. But Sadie's chapters put you in her head as she deals with the loss of her sister, the struggles in her life, and the path she's had to take to get her revenge.
3) Wednesday Books actually released "The Girls," podcast from the book. Every Wednesday, starting on September 4th, they released a serialized podcast that reads the exact podcast chapters from the book. I've included a link to episode one here!
However, I would like to know your opinions on this.
It's never actually mentioned if West McCray is a man or woman.
Which is not a big deal, but as I was reading reviews and listening to the podcast... West is a man yet, I was reading West as a woman. I pondered over it because the character is mentioned to have a daughter and be married to a man. But in our ever-changing society, West very well could be a man and I'm just wondering how you all read this character's voice.
I loved this book and I legitimately had to set the book down as I was reading Sadie's last chapter because I couldn't handle it. I was feeling her anxiety as she was feeling it and it blew my mind how well written her character was. I applaud Courtney Summers for this!
Looking for other books by Courtney Summers?
Saw this one at a bookshop and the beautiful cover caught my eye! Loved how you matched the book with the outfit haha. Sounds promising, will probably read it in the near future!
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Thank you! I was going for a fall vibe in the picture. I highly recommend reading it though! It was AMAZING and is easily in my top 10 fav books.
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